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Investigation of Childhood Vaccination, or Lack Thereof, and Methods to Encourage Vaccination Amongst Families with Young Children History of Vaccine Related Controversy English 402 28 Apr. 2010 $ Jake AdkinsMegan CookJennifer EricksonRobert Thonney Collaborators 1922 - Smallpox vaccination mishap causes encephalitis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome outbreak 1953 - It was realized that some children exhibited a growing allergic reaction to the vaccinations for the diseases. 1998 - Wakefield and collaborators report twelve children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, to which they suggested a possible link with the MMR vaccine. Parental Input

Eliminate disease by vaccines for their children Is vaccination worth the possible side effects? Media says one thing while pediatricians and other doctors say another. Outline

- General decrease in number of vaccinations worldwide- Stigma against not only MMR, but vaccines as a whole-First to propose link between active agent thimerosal in vaccines to onset of autism spectrum disorders

Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Measles Mumps Rubella - Highly contagious (aerosol spread).- Symptoms: high fever (4-7 days), runny nose, cough, white spots on inside of cheeks, rash from head to toe.- Severe symptoms can range from blindness and deafness to encephalitis and subsequent death due to the brain swelling. - 2008: worldwide, 164,000 deaths due to measles, all children under 5 years of age.- Between 2001 and 2008, a 78% drop in deaths worldwide. due to MMR shot

- "German measles"- Symptoms: similar to measles, less acute- Mild disease in both children and adults- Serious side effects occur in pregnant women- MMR shot x's 2 Wakefield's paper Background - To cover in depth the controversial MMR-autism link, to find ways to re-establish the high vaccination rate for MMR. Whats our purpose? Whats the problem? - Worldwide vaccination rates have been dropping significantly due to the controversial link between the MMR vaccine and autism in children U.K. - inoculation plummets 92% 80% Survey Survey in Regards to Vaccinations and Autism

Please take a moment to fill out this survey. We are collecting information from the general populace regarding our project on child vaccinations and the proposed link with autism.We greatly appreciate your input!!!

1. Are you familiar with the proposed link between autism and children being vaccinated?( Y / N )2. If yes to question 1, how did you learn about this information?

3. Do you have children? ( Y / N )4. If yes to question 3, did you vaccinate your children (MMR, DPT, Rubeola, Polio, etc)?( Y / N )5. On a scale of 1 to 5, how important do you think vaccinations are? (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important) Why People Aren't Getting Vaccinated? Proposed Solution What do parents really think? What is the truth and where do I find it? How do those involved with medicine combat the negative impact of the media and other sources? Provide Pediatricians with current vaccine informationDevelop a simple website for parentsPrevent negative media attention to unproven dataUltimately regain the trust of parents with young children

Thimerosal -used to be an active agent in over 30 childhood vaccines

- Institute of Medicine's panel employed by the CDC thoroughly researched claim and used epidemiological studies to inquire about this proposed link

Hypotheses For Positive Link - small amount of the measles virus present in the vaccine gets stuck in the intestine of some children via blood flow, and releases gut-brain toxins that cause autism

- children receiving the vaccine have immune abnormalities, which are exposed with the presence of the MMR vaccine in the child's system, causing the onset of autism

- most believe that there may be a biological marker that is specific for the onset of autism, and that receiving that vaccine exposes the weakness in the child's immune system and results in the onset of autism Insufficient Evidence Panel rejects connection for a multitude of reasons: 1) primitive understanding of onset of autism 2) 2 other studies in Finland found a positive correlation between MMR vaccine and autisms diagnoses

Correlation does not mean causation!

10 of 12 initial collaboraters of Wakefield paper have withdrawn their initial support of evidence CDC's Bottom Line - Thimerosal has been removed from all childhood vaccines, except influenza, to ensure that those getting their children vaccinated can be sure that there is no exposure to the agent some fear can link the onset of autism to the MMR vaccine.

- Does not recommend a policy review of the current MMR vaccine schedule or change the recommendation that all children get the routine childhood vaccines, including MMR